


After Dark

by irrelevanttous



Category: Twilight (Movies), Twilight Series - All Media Types, Twilight Series - Stephenie Meyer
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Jaliceweek, Vampire/Human
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-17
Updated: 2020-10-17
Packaged: 2021-03-09 04:53:39
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,975
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27059035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/irrelevanttous/pseuds/irrelevanttous
Summary: Major Jasper Whitlock encounters three mysterious women on the way back to Galveston. One of them - the tiny one with the short hair - claims she's been waiting for him.
Relationships: Alice Cullen/Jasper Hale
Comments: 15
Kudos: 20
Collections: Jalice Week 2020





	After Dark

**Author's Note:**

> This is my submission for Day One of Jaliceweek2020. The theme is Vampire/Human.

Human / Vampire

He met them on his way back to Galveston.

After sitting on his horse all day, he was beginning to feel exhausted. His entire body was aching, the muscles strained from the upright, tense position he had been holding for too long. The insides of his thighs were already sore, in spite of the new saddle he’d gotten from the stable only a few days ago. It also wasn’t helping that he had not slept at all the night before or during _this_ night, either. But he’d had no choice. Even though the evacuation had been successful, there was a lot more work to be done and he could not afford to rest.

For that reason, he had left Houston as soon as the women and children had safely reached the city. He’d only had time to get a fresh horse before being ordered to head back to Galveston.

Since then, Jasper had only stopped for one short break to eat and drink something.

He had almost reached his destination when he encountered them, just a mile outside the city. It was the middle of the night and the surface of the river was reflecting the full moon next to him.

What astonished him the most, as he spotted them, was that they were on foot.

The first assumption popping into his head was that they must have been ambushed or robbed. Their dresses looked expensive, so they were most likely honourable ladies who had been struck by misfortune.

Why else would three young women in expensive clothing walk around in the middle of nowhere after dark? Something had to be wrong.

Whatever the reason for their presence here was, however, Jasper didn’t hesitate to offer them his help. Not only was it the way his parents had raised him – to be of service to the vulnerable – but his training in the army had only enforced that teaching.

Perhaps the women were stragglers of the group he’d led to Houston.

Perhaps they had fallen behind and gotten lost.

But once he moved closer and had the chance to get a better a look at them for the first time, he realised that that could not be the case.

He was sure he would have remembered them.

They were the most beautiful creatures he’d ever seen. Their pale skin seemed to sparkle in the moonlight like porcelain, almost glowing in the dark. They looked alike in a strange way; although one of them was quite a lot shorter than the others. While he’d been further away, he’d expected them to be sisters, but now he wasn’t so sure anymore.

All three of them were dark-haired, but two of them had long hair, flowing in soft waves down to the middle of their backs, while the hair of the woman in the middle – this had to be their leader, as Jasper instantly assumed – was cut only inches away from her scalp. It stood away in every direction and his gaze lingered on her for longer. He’d never seen a woman with short hair like this before.

Jasper had expected them to be scared – of _him_ , of the dark, of unknown threats –, but neither of them seemed to be.

Instead, they were eying him with curiosity, one of them – the tallest one – even had a smile on her face.

He dismounted his horse, pulling it behind him as he walked closer. Still leaving a safe distance between them, he came to a halt.

“May I be of assistance?” he asked, taking off his hat like a good southern gentleman.

The tiny woman in the middle – the one with the short hair – stepped closer, scanning him from top to bottom. Jasper was confused by her unashamed staring. It was impolite.

Then, she smiled, too.

“Jasper,” she said. “You’ve kept me waiting a long time.”

He had no idea what she was talking about. And how did she know his name?

Perhaps he had lost them during the evacuation after all and she remembered him.

“My apologies, ma’am,” he replied, despite the sudden unease he felt, although he couldn’t explain where it came from.

But it was impossible for him to be impolite to a woman, even though he wasn’t sure if _that_ was what they were. Now that the dark-haired one stood only a few feet away from him, Jasper caught himself thinking that _human_ wasn’t exactly how he would describe her appearance.

Perhaps it was the pearly white skin which seemed to have no obvious flaws. Or maybe it was the colour of her eyes. They were almost entirely black – although that could easily be due to the darkness surrounding them. Whatever it was that made him feel anxious all of a sudden, he couldn’t help but feel a slight chill creeping up his back while he stared at this small, mysterious woman.

His instincts told him that there was something was wrong with them.

Most women he’d met in his life wouldn’t wander around after dark so fearlessly.

However, he pushed the thought to the back of his mind, annoyed with himself. What could he possibly have to fear from three women?

They laughed at his apology, bringing his attention back to the present.

The tiny one turned around to say to her companions, loud enough for him to hear, “He’s… compelling. Tell me you feel that, too?”

The other two nodded.

Jasper frowned, still unsure what she meant.

“Are you lost?” he tried again, and once more, was met with their laughter.

He wondered if they had indeed been in an ambush and were still in shock. He’d been a soldier long enough to know that shock could make people do strange things, react in unusual ways. Instinctively, he scanned their figures for any sign of a fight or for injuries but could find none.

The small dark-haired woman shook her head. “We’re not lost, Jasper. We’ve been waiting for you.”

That confused him even more. “Were you members of our evacuation party, heading for Houston?”

“No,” she said simply, mysteriously.

One of the others, the tallest one, walked forward, whispering into their leader’s ear, “You better do it, Alice. If your visions are true, it should be you.”

The tiny woman – _Alice_ – turned to face her, irritation now obvious in her expression. “Of course they are true. I knew he’d be here, didn’t I?”

Jasper was still struggling to make sense of anything they were saying.

Truthfully, he was starting to believe that, perhaps, they were ghosts. Back when he was a young boy, his father used to tell him ghost stories while they were sitting around the fire in the middle of the night, out in the open and underneath the stars. Although Jasper was sure now that his father hadn’t believed in those stories himself, he still remembered them well.

_White as a sheet_ , his father had described the ghosts.

_They are beautiful, but sad_ , he’d said.

Well, these women certainly fit the description.

He felt a strong desire to ask Alice, but it somehow didn’t seem right to ask someone if they were a ghost. Perhaps they _were_ but didn’t know about it themselves.

His father used to say most ghosts were not aware that they weren’t alive anymore.

Alice’s laugh pulled him back from his memories. “We are not ghosts, Major Whitlock. But we aren’t alive either.”

In the back of his mind, Jasper was aware that her words should make his blood run cold. And yet, for some reason, he felt a sudden sense of something else overcoming him. Something else entirely. Not fear, but… _anticipation_? He wasn’t sure if that was it, but he had no other way of describing the sensation.

It was almost as if… he knew her from somewhere. And even though he had no idea how that was even possible, he couldn’t shake the feeling after the thought had entered his mind.

“So _what_ are you?” he asked, going against his better instincts and walking another step forward.

He didn’t ask how she knew what he’d wanted to ask; he’d accepted that there was something unusual about these women in general, and about Alice in particular.

Her smile turned even wider. “Something else.”

Again, he felt that shiver creeping through his bones. Perhaps they _were_ ghosts.

The third woman - the one who hadn’t yet spoken at all - leaned in to whisper something into Alice’s ear. It was too quiet for him to hear; he could only see her lips moving.

The leader hissed at her in response – an _inhumane_ sound was the only way he could describe it – and Jasper instinctively walked backwards again.

No, he thought. They _weren’t_ human.

“Leave him to me,” Alice said to the third woman as if he wasn’t even here.

“Yes,” the tall one agreed. “I kill them twice as often as I keep them.”

Jasper realised he _should_ be scared. They were talking about killing – murdering; and even though the tall woman made it sound as if they would try not to kill _him_ , it was obvious that they _had_ killed other people. And yet, while he was staring at the small woman with the short hair, he couldn’t shake the feeling that she didn’t want to harm him in any way.

Alice turned away from her companions to meet his eyes again.

His instincts screamed at him to run, and this time, for one moment, he actually considered it; just getting on his horse and racing away, as fast as he could.

“You wouldn’t get far,” Alice said softly, another wry smile on her face.

Jasper could only stare at her in disbelief. “How did you…?”

“Know?” she laughed. “I know many things, Jasper. I _know_ you will be of great use to me. I _know_ you will survive.” She paused, clearly waiting for his reaction. He made sure to keep on a neutral expression, not wanting to give away his unease at her words.

They had taught him that in the army, too. _Don’t show your fear_.

“I _also_ know, you and I will be close in the future,” Alice said then, causing him to stare at her even more.

“How do you…?” he began, before stopping himself as he saw her face.

She was insane, she had to be, Jasper told himself. She was talking about the future as if it was set in stone.

Now, Alice walked even closer until she stood right in front of him. She stroked one of her fingers over the back of his hand. He flinched – pulling away – when he felt how cold her hand was.

_Icy_.

Was this due to the temperature out here in the night? Or was she really a ghost?

“I will explain everything,” she said, making it sound like a promise. “Afterwards.”

“After what?” he whispered, staring down at her.

She ignored his question. “This will hurt. I’m sorry about that.”

She genuinely sounded sorry, and Jasper’s hand instinctively flew to his revolver. Before he could reach it, her hand was on his wrist, holding it in place.

“This won’t do any good. Honestly, I think it would be better to just let it happen. It will be less messy that way.”

Won’t do any good? Less _messy_?

Jasper felt his heartbeat speeding up at her words. Was this the part where she would try to _not_ kill him?

_I know you will survive_ , she’d said. But how did she know?

Alice slid her hands in his hair while he was frozen in place – still not able to believe that this was happening – and pulled him down to her eye-level as though she was trying to kiss him.

The next thing he felt was the unbearable pain of her teeth ripping through the skin of his throat.

And then, nothing but _pain_.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this very quickly last night, so it's far from perfect, but I wanted to contribute something to the first day of Jalice week.


End file.
